Mereditha
by anonamouse01
Summary: A new found orphan has, on a whim, stolen the third egg from galbatorix, follow Meredith as she flees from the king and goes down a path that she didn't see coming. First fan fiction - hope you like it
1. Prologue

**Prologue - September 16****th**

The door came bashing down, throwing dust all over the front room. I ran out, up the stairs and to the end of the corridor. I reached up for the almost invisible trap door that would lead me to safety. It had no handle, so you had to push up, and then let it fall. I did just that. The flap opened, letting loose a ladder. I climbed up, constantly aware of the fact that a gang of men were making their way through the house, trashing ever room they came in. I pulled back the ladder and closed the trap door. My parents weren't home, they should be safe. I went to the furthest part of the attic and curled up into a ball. I heard a grunt of pain from my father, a bone chilling scream from my mother, and I knew it was over. This was it. They had come. It had been six months since we hadn't paid Galbatorix's taxes, and now his men had come to kill us for it. They stormed thought the house, bashing down every door, trying to find someone hiding; trying to find me. Finally, after what seemed like ages of bashing, breaking and scavenging, they left. The silence was ear piercing. The only thing that ran through my mind was relief, the relief of a survivor. Then, like a second tsunami, rolling in after the first, it hit me. My parents were dead. They had been killed by Galbatorix, whom, until now, I had though of with a neutral, non passionate feeling. Now he had left me a fifteen-year-old orphan, with no friends, family and no where to go.


	2. Chapter 1 decisions

**Decisions**

When I was five, I obtained a yearning to travel north east, like something calling out to me, wanting me to come. I don't know how I got it, it was just a sudden change, one night perfectly happy, next morning, it seemed like every cell in my body wanted to follow the pull. My parents, thinking it was a sign, decided to move from Feinster to Teirm when I was seven. When I got the news, I was happy, thinking that it would calm the yearning down. It didn't. I still felt that strong pull throughout my body, but it was not pulling me north east any more, but south east. We had gone too far north. I kept this to myself; I didn't want to disappoint my parents. They had spent most of their money moving here, so I acted happy and exited to be in a new town. My father got a new job, and made a fortune in spite of the high taxes. We bought a nice house next to the sea and lived well until my father decided to not pay the taxes. Then, without warning, Galbatorix's troops stormed our house and killed them.

So here I am, sitting in the attic, dumbfounded by the fact that they had not found the trap door. I was still alive. My parents had died. I was stuck in the middle of relief and horror. It sucked all the life out of me, I couldn't move, so I tried to think of a plan. Finally, after what seemed like hours of mind wrestling and toying with ideas, I came to a decision. I would go around the house, collecting all the gold hidden under the floorboards, and follow that pull. Everyone said I looked old for my age, so I would use that to my advantage. I would be sixteen and delivering a message for my father who was a trader. That would save me a lot of questions and explanations. I felt some strength rise in me as I found a purpose. I got up, opened the trapdoor and looked down into the disastrous mess that was once my house.

I walked down the silent corridor and into what used to be my room. Now, it looked as if a tornado had whirled through it and turned everything upside down, but leaving the walls untouched. The fools hadn't looked behind the paintings; that's where the most obvious secret compartments were. My bed was upright, leaning against the open closet, my desk upside down; all the draws taken out and papers everywhere. My bookshelf was face down on the ground, books poking out the side; well at least they hadn't taken any books. I spoke a simple lifting spell, lifting the book case back into position. It left me tired and panting for breath, but no one else in the world could do that strong a spell at my age. A spell of that strength would leave a normal fifteen-year-old magician dead, or at least unconscious. I took two books, an Ancient Language to English dictionary, and my all time favorite story, The Riders Tale. The book explained how the dragon riders were, their laws, systems, schools and everything. It also told of how Galbatorix was able to kill the riders and take over Alagasia. This is a one of a kind book, Galbatorix burnt all but this one, and that was because the dwarves had hid it in that giant mountain of theirs. I have no idea how I came to be its owner, nor do I care, but I have it now, and I know I have to keep it safe. I put the two books as well as camping gear and clothes into my traveler's bag, which was lying on the floor, and strode out the room and into the next one too see what could be useful.

Thankfully, I had been on many camping trips before, hence the bag, and I knew what I would need. In the end, I decided on taking all necessary clothes (shirts, skirts, stockings, jackets, etc), four strips of dried horse meat (good energy), two canteens (three liters each), four packets of dried fruit, a map of Alagasia, a blanket, my two books and 489 gold coins. I was also taking a sword (I am the best swordsman in Teirm), and bow with twenty arrows. The house was searched entirely and thoroughly, but it was built to withstand such searches. There are a total of twenty secret panels and doors which open to compartments to hide things in, none of which were found in the search, and the soldiers didn't take the food, so I was in luck. It was getting late, near four in the after noon. I had three hours of sun left, so I headed south; passing the gate that marked the end of my old life, and the beginning of a new adventure.


	3. Chapter 2 The Plains

**Sorry this took so long, computer crashed, but here is chapter two, hope you like it. **

**Disclaimer – I don't own Eragon…just my character...**

**The Plains**

So far, this spectacular adventure of mine is turning out to be plain boring. Nothing plain after plain, nothing exiting at all. I mean seriously! Doesn't this country have any mountains or something? It can't be like this all the way to wherever I'm going…can it? Then, almost as if the mere thought of it had called it, a mountain appeared. I had has happened at all, six days of the same, hilly country side: hill after hill, reached the top of the hill, and Bang! Out of nowhere a mountain pops up. How didn't I see this on the last hill! It was huge! Massive! Enormous! How on earth was I going to get over that! But, just as the thought entered my head, I saw that the road followed a river (which had also sprung up out of nowhere) and go around the mountain. So, now somewhat relieved that I didn't have to climb the mountain, I headed off down the road and towards the river. It wasn't much of a road; it was badly kept with weeds growing all around it, pathetic really. I walked down the road, and because it was nearing night fall, I hurried down to the river to catch me some dinner.

As I got closer to the river, I could see that it was full of fish that were swimming around everywhere; I would not starve here. It was about five meters across and, as far I could tell, knee deep. I stripped down; the road was, to my content, hardly used at all; and went into the river. Because I was filthy, I decided to perform a cleaning spell. As I spoke the words to the spell, I began to feel a warm sensation in my chest; like warm sunshine on a cold day. The spell was beginning to take form. As I continued the spell, the sensation grew so that by the time I had finished, I could fell the warm sensation throughout my entire body. The last word left my mouth, and was accompanied by a river of soft, golden light. The golden light dived into the river and swirled around for a while before going to my feet. The golden light soon covered my entire body so that I looked like a statue made of gold. The spell was very power consuming, and would have been impossible to use if I had been relying simply on my own energy source. So I searched with my mind for some fish upstream and sapped all their energy and fed it to the spell. Later, when the dead fish came down stream, I caught them in my golden hand.

My cleaning spell finished and the golden light disappeared. All of a sudden, I felt very exposed standing there, standing in the middle of the river, naked, clutching four dead fish. I hurried out of the river and put the fish on the ground next to my bag. I dried myself, got dressed and placed a spell on my stuff so that no-one would find it and steal it. I grabbed the fish and began to walk along the river, looking for a good place to gut them. The place I found was a small cliff, about half a meter (one and half feet) down, with the river at the bottom. I took out my knife and sliced the fish in a way that would let its guts loose into the river for the fish to feed on. The moment the innards hit the water, a heap of fish swarmed around them. I reached out with my mind to see what the fish were thinking, but the only response was "Food! Food! Food!" What dimwitted creatures, all they could think about is the present. Once I had gutted my fish, I washed them in the river and walked back to the camp. I gathered firewood on the way to build a fire, but once I got there I realized that I would need a lot more wood than I had collected. So I went out, collecting all the dead wood I could find. There wasn't much; aren't many trees in the plains…but still, I managed to find a dead tree which gave me all the wood I needed. I once again returned to the makeshift camp, and started the fire. I tried to cook one of the fish, but I burnt it. It was inedible, so I cooked the next fish, trying not to destroy it as I had the other one. The other three fish cooked pretty well. I ate one and put the other two into my bag. I put out the fire and went to sleep on the grass, getting as much rest before dawn as I could.

The next four or five days were pretty much the same. Wake up at dawn, walk all day till dusk, catch a couple of fish, eat, and sleep. Then, on the fifth day, the river, which had kept a steady western course till now, had begun to turn south. My pull on the other hand, asked me to keep going west. So, with great reluctance, I left the sanctuary of the river and walked out into the forest that made up the wilderness of central Alagaesia.


	4. Chapter 3 The Wilderness

**To make up for the long wait, here's the next chapter. I have had these two ready for a while…but my computer stuffed up. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own any of Eragon, from the biggest dragon to the smallest ant… it's all Paolini's. **

**The Wilderness**

If I had one word to describe the wilderness of Alagaesia, it would be amazing. It changed all the time, so much that you never knew what the day would bring. My pull had led me far away from the roads and I was wandering in the heart of the forest, a place full of beauty, surprises and discoveries. I looked up at the canopy of red, orange, brown, yellow, green, leaves and marveled at the beauty of it all. I doubt anyone had ever walked this way before. From my ten days in the forest, I had discovered a hundred different species of birds, animals, insects and plants, and my new favorite activity was sitting on the ground, or a fallen tree, and entering the mind of a never seen before animal. Every time I found a new animal, I put it in my note book along with all its statistics (size, colour, habitat, diet etc.) I got the information from entering their minds, but I had to follow them to be able to draw them, though if there was more than one, I could draw one from the looking through the eyes of the other. It had now been three weeks since I had left the river, and I was taking my time. My tug was becoming stronger and stronger, but I generally ignored it. It was getting dark, so I began to search for a place to sleep. I generally did this as I was walking along, and, as usual, I found a spot. It was a small clearing; obscure in shape, but none the less, a clearing. It wasn't very big, but my tent would fit, and I could even have a small fire if I needed to. I pitched up my tent while there was still some light, and then began my search for food. I sat crossed legged on the ground and extended my mind in every direction, searching for any herbivores nearby. The reason why I searched for herbivores was because they generally lead to fruit and nuts. I didn't eat them, I hated killing intelligent creatures. I could kill fish, but only because they are too stupid to realize what's happening. I ended up looking through the mind of a creature I had discovered a couple of days earlier. It was a mammal, but with wings! No such thing had even been thought of before. Its wings were black and leathery, and hung from arm like limbs on the side of its body. It had a reasonably sized body and a small head with big pointed ears. It slept during the day; hanging around upside in the trees, waiting for night. But the most incredible thing about this animal was that it was completely blind! It navigated by sending out really high pitched screeched and listening to how they come back, and this animal could fly around at about 40 kph (25 mph) completely blind! The animal was a fruit eater, and it getting hungry. It soon found some food, and I followed it to what turned out to be a fruit tree. The fruit was really sweet and nice, and I ate only had to eat a couple and I was full. When I was done, I went back to the clearing and went to my tent to go to sleep.

Next morning, I went back to the fruit tree to have breakfast. I ate two more of the fruits before going to pack up my tent at the clearing. Once I had packed, I headed off. After about three hours walk, I left the forest. There had been no thinning of the trees, no trails that people had taken, just a clear, sudden cut off. One minute I was in the middle of a dense forest, the next, in an open plain with the forest behind me. The change was so significant and sudden that it caught me by surprise. I just stood there, taking in the scene in front of me. There was a road, with people, carts, live stock, goods to trade, messages to be given…everyone was going north, so I assumed that the main attraction lay that direction. I was right, and I turned my head to see a city. A huge, beautiful city that was made so perfectly that there was no way that it had been made by human hands. As I looked closer, I began to see the tell tale signs of the elves work. The outer wall was made of white marble, polished and decorated…no human would take the time to polish the entire outer wall of a city; it was supposed to be for defense, but no elf needed such defenses; in fact, the outer wall was only made to make the visiting humans feel more comfortable. Yes, this city had definitely been constructed by the elves…but there are no elves living there now. The city had been over thrown, overthrown by the only creatures greater than the elves; the dragons. This beautiful city, once full of laughter and delight, was the last place on earth I ever wanted to visit, for the city that lay before me was Uru'baen, home to the evil King Galbatorix, his dragon and whatever was left of the forsworn.....

**Did you get what the animal was? If not, you're just going to have to re-read it…it does exist the real world. **

**Oh, and please review, it a good boost of confidence and makes us (well me anyway) work faster…and don't be afraid to point out the bad stuff, it makes sure I don't do it again in the future. **


	5. Chapter 4 Entering Uru'baen

**Here's the next chapter, and thanks to those who have commented on my story. It's really appreciated, keep doing so**

**Disclaimer – Eragon and everything in it isn't mine, and thus I can never really capture the personality of any other character other then those whom I have made up. **

**Entering Uru'baen**

There was one major problem that made me hesitate before entering Uru'baen. It was not that there was a good chance that I would get caught and have to work for the king, because there was no one left to disappoint or to live for. Everyone I ever cared about was dead. I've never been one for friends, been pretty much a loner all my life, so the only people I had ever loved were my parents. But now that they were dead, my life seemed to mean nothing, also, if I didn't go in now, I would spend the rest of my pathetic life wondering what would've happened if I had gone into the city, and trying to convince myself it was all a trap and I had done the right thing in leaving. No, it was not the danger that made me hesitate; it was the group of guards that were stopping people at the gate. My life might mean nothing, and there was a good chance I would get caught, but I was not going to just give myself up. They would have to find me, and I would fight with whatever I had before letting them have me. Better to go down fighting then to just give up. After further observation of the guards, I found that the people they were stopping those that seemed out of place, as if they didn't belong. Most of them were let in, but only after several minutes of intense interrogation and a few gold coins. I had no money left; I had lost it while in the forest, so I could not let myself be caught. I knew what I had to do to get pass the guards. I waited until most of the guards were occupied with someone, then left the forest and joined the crowd that was entering the city. I walked with my head held high and a confidence that I hoped, wouldn't mark me as a first timer. I walked straight through the gates, pass several guards and interrogations and entered the city as if I had done it every day of my life since the day I were born.

I had no idea where I was going, but as I was walking along the streets, I would occasionally feel a tug that would lead me in the right direction. Left, right, left, left, right and so on. This was taking ages! It had been an hour since I had entered the city, with still no result. I soon realized why it was taking to long; I was walking around the palace that made up the center of the city. I had come into the city facing the front entrance, and now, I was following the west wall. I rounded another bend to find myself in front of a small gate that seemed to lead to the gardens. It was locked, and as I was unlocking it, someone decided to interrupt me.

"Stop right there," said a stern, harsh voice, "no one is allowed to pass this gate. It's forbidden." I turned around to see one lone guard, hung-over and tired after a long night of heavy drinking.

"Really?" I returned, "Not even one someone bearing an important message for the king?"

He seemed to ponder that for a moment before asking "what's the message?"

"Sorry, for the King's ears only" I replied with a big smile.

"You don't look like someone who carries messages" he said, speculating.

"Ugh! Why is it that I have to explain this every time I try to get into the palace? I must have told this to very guard in the palace! If I don't look like someone important, then the resistance won't attack." He seemed a little taken back; not used to being insulted this one.

"Why don't you get an escort then?" he asked, "They wouldn't dare attack the guards."

"Do you really think that?" I asked him with heavy sarcasm. "You really believe that the resistance will allow an escort of imperial guards walk right in front of them?" The question was rhetorical, but he answered anyway.

"No, guess not" he said, annoyed that he had been outwitted by a girl.

"I travel faster alone anyway…now listen, what's your name?"

"Connor Jadesson" he replied, too angry to see the trap.

"Well then, if I'm late for the king, I will tell him Connor Jadesson wouldn't let me into the palace." This was blackmail, and the threat was clear, if he was blamed for the delay, he would be killed without a second thought. He frowned and stepped aside. The threat was far too great. I could be an imposter, and then he would get killed by the king for letting me in, but it was far more likely that I was a massager; no girl is as smart as I unless she is important, and I was important, I was the heir to my fathers company, the most successful shipping business in Alagaesia. I walked through the now open gate and onto the path that led through the laws, herb garden, and vegetable gardens and into the palace itself.

The palace was a maze. If I had not had that pull for a guide, I would have been lost within five minutes. My pull led me down staircases, through secret doors, into complex passage ways, pass traps, and finally, to a spelled, wooden door which, I was sure, was where I was being led to. I placed a hand on the door and felt the spell inside it. I felt the make up of the spell, the purpose of it, how it was made and how to unlock it. It was a pretty simple spell. It protected the door from fire, physical and mental force, and required a password to open it. That was the hard bit. To open the door, you had to say 'I am Galbatorix' in the ancient language; a fool proof plan to stop anyone from entering.

"Well, thank god I'm not a fool then," I said out loud. I quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but I was alone. There was no one there. I was alone, at the end of a very long and narrow tunnel that led to no where but this door. To say something in the ancient language it has to be true, or at least you have to think it to be true. So to say 'I am Galbatorix' in the ancient language, you have to believe you are Galbatorix. Thankfully, I knew how to bypass that. It's hard and takes a lot of practice, but it works. I sat down on the ground next to the door and began to think of ways that I am like Galbatorix. To start with, we were both magicians, then there's that fact that our parents are dead. Also, we both want the world to be a better place (I knew that wasn't true, but I fooled myself into thinking it), so if you look at it from that angle, I am Galbatorix. It was then. You only had a split second to act before you started to second guess yourself, but in that second, you truly believe that you are who you are trying to believe to be.

"I am Galbatorix!" I said in a loud voice (and in the ancient language of course). The door hadn't moved, but I pressed my hand against it to make sure it had worked. Sure enough, as soon as I touched it, it flew open. I stood up and looked inside.

What I saw made me gasp. It was a cave. A huge, gigantic cave filled row after row of shelves. On those shelves, were hundreds of spheres, varying in size and colour. Some were smaller, the size of a football, where as others were huge, as big as a trucks engine, and bigger even. They were black, green, blue, red, yellow, purple, brown, every shade of every colour imaginable. I walked in a couple of steps and closed the door behind me, but before it closed, I rigged the spell so that you had to say "I am not Galbatorix" to unlock the door. That should stop Galbatorix if he were to try and get in. As I came closer, I saw a large, round table. Placed near the center of it was one of the spheres; about the size of a soccer ball, so not that big, but pure white, in complete contrast with the deep, rich black oval shaped object next to it. The white sphere seemed to shine, as if it were a light source of its own, where as the black one seemed to absorb the light, and there was a strange sense of balance between the two. I walked up to them, and sat down in the chair provided. Then, by some weird impulse, I reached out and touched the sphere…


	6. Chapter 5 Heart of Hearts

**Did you ever guess this would happen? I hope not, because then, I wouldn't have done my job correctly – to be unpredictable. Hope you like the chapter. **

**Disclaimer – The usual**

**Heart of Hearts**

A flood of thoughts entered my mind, and I recoiled, my hand darting back to my body. Whatever this thing was, it was most definitely conscious. I put up my shield and touched the shining, white sphere again. I felt it's mind floating my way in a non threatening way, but it could be a trick, so I let my shield relax a bit, allowing us to project thoughts to each other.

"Relax," it said, "If I had wanted any harm, I would have already taken over your mind." I could see how right he (I was sure that voice was masculine) was, for he had the most powerful mind I had ever encountered before.

"What are you?" I asked it. Immediately, I was bombarded with memories. The fact was, he was once a dragon, a pure white dragon with a rider. He had a pupil, who had had great potential. So when his rider was dying, he gave the pupil his hearts of hearts to tutor him until he was ready. He had stayed with his pupil until the day that he had been killed by Galbatorix. He then proceeded to tell me how Galbatorix had hunted down every hearts of hearts in the land and broken into their minds to absorb their power.

"You have to destroy every one of them" he told me, "because they are the source of his power."

"But, are you sure they want to be destroyed?" I asked him. It was not just him that had answered me then, but a million other voices too. Some deep and powerful bass voices, right to the sweet sopranos, but they all answered the same. "Yes!"

"What about you? Do you want to be destroyed too?" I asked him.

"No, my mind has not yet been taken over by Galbatorix, but it will happen soon, so it your decision." I made my decision; I would destroy all of them, and take the one in front of me with me. I started to cast the spell, but half way through, I realized that it would be too powerful for me to handle.  
"Do not worry," sang the chorus of voices, "We will give you strength."

So I finished casting the spell, and specified that it would destroy every one of the heart of hearts in the room except for the one on the table. I felt the spell grow inside of me as it tried to find the energy it needed. It grew and grew, and then out came the first of many pulses of energy. It was a huge amount of energy, everything I had. It was going to kill me! Suddenly, the energy was returned, and just in time too, for the next wave was preparing itself. The second left me, and drained my energy, and it was again restored by the dragons. I soon realized that, as I was destroying the more powerful dragons, I was gaining a surplus. I was gaining more energy then I needed. I was getting stronger and stronger, and I didn't feel tired any more. The next wave left my body, and shot out towards the biggest of the dragons. An enormous amount of energy entered my body, far more then I could handle, and that was a problem. The human body has a limit to the amount of energy that it can hold, and if that limit is surpassed to rapidly, like what was happening now, then it would kill you.

But I did not die. Instead, I felt as if I were coming to life. I could feel every creature in the city. I could hear all their thoughts simultaneously. Angry, sad, happy, cheerful, and everywhere in between. From the biggest dragon to the smallest ant, it was all in my head. I just stood there, gasping at the wonder of it all. My ears began to pick up sounds once unknown to me, frequencies to high or low for the human to hear. I could hear the low growl of a dragon, Shruikani, I realized, and I suddenly felt afraid. My eyesight sharpened. What was once a dark cave was now a cave bathed in a soft, dark purple light. I could see a lot further then before. I was sure that mountain that I had passed on the way here wouldn't have just popped out of no-where with these eyes. But if that wasn't enough, my sense of smell improved too. I could smell even the smallest particle of the air. Every molecule had its own unique, one of kind smell, and I could smell them all! From the nitrogen in the air, to the carbon in the wall. I realized that I could sense what object was what just by the smell of it, just like you would be able to tell the difference between cow dung and fish. The spell had finished by now, and I bent over and placed my palm on the last hearts of hearts in Uru'baen and asked it "What happened to me?"

"Well, when the wisest of the dragons realized that you were going to explode," he said, "they concocted a spell that basically turned you into an elf. Your appearance hasn't changed; you're still the dark haired, brown eyed girl you always were, except you have the strength and abilities of an elf. Now, stop fooling around, pick up the dragon egg over there and get out of here. Now!"

**Please reveiw, I would like to know what you all think. **


	7. Chapter 6 Leaving Uru'baen

**Leaving Uru'bean**

I took off my bag and then took everything out of it to make room for the white heart of hearts and the black dragon egg. I got out a smaller bag made of leather (which had once been used to store fish) and put the white dragon in, so that its glow wouldn't show as I tried to escape. I put that in the bottom of my bag. Next, I put in the dragon egg in and all of my other stuff on top of both. After making sure I hadn't forgotten anything, I sprinted for the door while yelling out the new password. I ran down the passageways of the castle, amazed at how fast I could run, and how light my bag felt in spite of the extra weight. I soon started to get that feeling that I was missing something, so I stopped to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything back in the chamber. I checked through everything; bag, sword, utility belt (which I had bought from a shop on the way here), money, healing herbs (incase my magic was somehow depleted), and for some reason, it suddenly occurred to me that it would probably be safer if I had bought someone along, but I ignored the thought and continued my inspection. It looked as if I had everything, but I still felt that something was missing, but I just pushed the thought to the back of my mind and continued running. Suddenly, it came to me; what I was missing was my "pull." That one thing that had been guiding me the entire journey had just disappeared as I had found the chamber, I had just been way too preoccupied to notice, and now that I was calm, its lack of presence was realized. I reached the end of the long corridor and came to a fork in the path. Up to this point, I had simply followed this corridor that for some reason had no other paths going out from it. Due to the fact I hadn't bothered to try and remember the path, I had no idea where to go. I pondered on which one to go down. I knew that one lead out, and the other probably deeper into the castle, but I didn't know which was which. I tried to think backwards, but I couldn't remember seeing this fork. I must have run passed it as I came in.

"Go left" said a deep voice. I turned around; frantically looking for whoever it was who had said it, before I realized that it was the dragon. I replied with a simple "thanks" and ran down the left corridor and let the dragon guide me through the castle, simply because there was no other way to find my way out. At one point, after a full ten minutes of running through the corridors, the dragon lead me through a door which was the only entry (and exit) of a long corridor with thousands of swords hung up upon the wall. I stopped abruptly. What was I doing here? I had no idea, and in that moment I realized how stupid I had been in trusting a dragon! Galbatorix had probably taken over his mind already; I was being led to my death! I began to turn around just as the dragon began to talk.

"These" the dragon told me, "Are all the swords of every dragon rider that has ever been captured or killed by Galbatorix. He collected them all and put them here, so that when one of the eggs hatch, the new rider could have a rider's sword."  
"Ok…So what am I doing here?" I asked him.

"These are the strongest most powerful swords in all of Alegaesia!" He yelled at me angrily; having heard my thoughts, he was offended, but he didn't say anything about it. "This is a chance too good to miss, so choose one and then leave the city."

I scanned the wall. They were in millions of different colors, about as diverse as the hearts of hearts had been, and all different sorts too. Some were broad, others, not so broad. Some were long, others short. Some you used with one hand, others with only one, and some, can be used with one, or both. I looked on the wall, looking for a sword that I could use and trust for the rest of my life, but none that I looked a seemed right for me. When I held them, they just didn't feel as if I could own them. They all seemed to reject me, telling me that they didn't want to kill, or fight, and just sit up on the wall. You're probably thinking the same thing most people do; how can a sword reject you? Well, its quit simple, a rider's sword is magical. It isn't made from your average iron and copper, but from some kind of metal that fell from the sky thousands of years ago. It's very hard and strong, and also very hard to mold, and thus, to make it, the blacksmith must use magic, which the metal absorbs and then gains a bit of consciousness; it chooses who uses it. If you want a good rider's sword, you want one that chooses you, other wise, it'll place doubt in your mind, and you will never fight to the best of your ability. So I walked down the corridor, scanning the wall for any sword that I felt wouldn't reject me. But they all did, and I soon got bored. I decided to look in another section of the corridor and began to run down the corridor. I skidded to a stop as I felt my pull come back. I turned around and followed it back to a particular sword that was on the wall. It was black, as black as the dragon egg that was now lying at the bottom of my bag; so dark that I could barely see it in this light, even with my new eyes. I took it off the wall and began to swing it around, to see how it felt like. I gasped in amazement. I couldn't believe my eyes. This sword was a replica of the one that was currently swinging on my hip. The only difference was the type of metal the sword was made out of, oh, and the fact that the rider's sword had an onyx on the helm. Even the scabbards were similar; black with thin gold wires decorating it with the most elaborate patterns. All the swords in the corridor came with their own scabbards, and one would be expected to trade their scabbards for the ones on the wall, but I didn't want to let go of mine. You see, when I was about thirteen, my father bought me my scabbard as a present. I had made my father get me sword fighting lessons, and before I tell you this story, I should tell you how the lessons work.

When learning how to fight with a sword, there are two types of classes one can go to. One can have private classes with your tutor, where you learned how to use a sword, and there are group classes, where you learn how to fight in a group, and where you get free enrolments in tournaments and learn the 'extras' of sword fighting. But when my father tried to enroll me in some group classes, they wouldn't take me because I was a girl, so he paid for a tutor to give me private lessons, and through three classes a week, I became really good, really fast. By the time I was eight, I was at the same level as most ten year olds in the country, and by the time I was twelve, my tutor said I was better then most eighteen year olds currently working in the army. When I was twelve, my tutor and I teamed up against my father and got him to pay double the usual price so that I could participate in a tournament. I came first and won five hundred gold pieces, and with it, I did what my tutor had told me to do with it; pay for an apprenticeship with the best sword smith in all of Teirm. This was to "gain an appreciation on how a good sword is made and crafted, and so that you know how to fix yours if it is bent or broken." The normal price was about 300 gold pieces for two years learning, and then 1 year's service as a sword smith with him. A total of three years all up, so 100 gold pieces a year. I paid 600 gold pieces upfront for a 1 year apprenticeship because I was a girl. I had managed to save up 100 gold pieces previous to the tournament and so that I was able to pay it. My mother was shocked, but it was my money and so she let me 'waste it' as she called it, but my father was proud of me. Not only had I not wasted his money with the sword tutor, but I had managed to win a tournament and pay for my own highly expensive apprenticeship which would give me a valuable skill in life. By the end of nine months with the swords smith, I knew almost everything about making a sword, and so, as a final part of the apprenticeship, he helped me make my own sword. I planned it, collected the ores, purified the metal, and made the sword under his watchful eye, to make sure the sword was perfect. The day I finished the sword was the day I finished my apprenticeship with him, and as a final farewell, he told me if I came back at any point in the future, I could have a 50% discount on any one item in his store, which includes apprenticeship for myself or anyone I paid for. That day, I walked home proudly with my newly finished sword on my hip, and when I arrived, my father gave me this scabbard as a present. He had saved up all the money he would have spent on my apprentice course, gotten the dimensions of my sword from my master and spent all of the money on this one scabbard for me. It is my most prized possession, and not only highly valuable in terms of money, but it also has a high sentimental value; it was the only remaining thing that can remind me of my father. I was not going to give it up just because I needed a rider's sword. If the sword I had in my hand did not fit into the scabbard, I would not take it. I slowly took my sword, which had served my all these years, out of the scabbard and put in the new sword. As I had hoped, it fit in perfectly. I put my old sword into the riders scabbard and was about to put it up on the wall when I changed my mind. This sword still had some life in it; it would not sit on a wall for the rest of eternity. Sword fighting one-o-one – a sword, like any other weapon, is a tool, and has a purpose. Just like a hammers purpose it to hit, a swords purpose it to fight, so I put it in my bag; I would give it to someone who I thought would need it and respect it and most importantly, use it.

"Interesting," said the heart of hearts, "you seem to have picked an unnamed sword. It was made for a young rider, but he and his dragon were killed by Galbatorix before he could use it, or name it for that matter. So it has remained unnamed and unused."

"I will name you" I told the sword, "but not yet, let me get to know you first, ok?" I had a bad habit of talking to inanimate objects, mainly due to the fact that I had had almost no friends in Teirm. I made sure the sword was secure before I put on my bag and ran out of the door.

In total, the entire return journey, which had taken me hours, had only taken me about twenty minutes. I ran out into the garden to see the sun very close to setting and ran to the gate that I had come in from. Just before I reached the gate, I gained my senses and began to walk. I couldn't just go flying past people like that; it would draw too much attention. The amount of time it was taking me was excruciating. It was like inviting Galbatorix to realize I was here. I really wanted to run, because I knew that as soon as Galbatorix tried to cast a spell, he would realize how depleted his energy levels were. I reached the gate and saw that there was a guard there. Thankfully, it was the same guard as before, so I wouldn't have to have the same argument as this morning.

"Hello again" I said cheerily to the guard. "Would you mind opening this gate for me? I've got another message to deliver."

"Oh…hello," he said nervously; he was sober now. "Were you late for the King?"

"Would you be standing here if I had?" I asked him, and before he could answer, I continued with "but I do have another important message to deliver, and I need to get out."

"Can't you leave by another gate?"

"Well, yes…but I chose to go out of this gate today"

"Why?"

"I do not need to tell _you _my motives behind my actions!" I yelled at him, "So just be quiet and let me out!" He was too stunned to stay anything. He opened the gate and let me pass.

"Thank you Connor Jadesson" I said, returning to my cheery tone.

"Your welcome" he mumbled. I pretended not to hear and walked away, taking the smaller roads to the front gate. I got there just as they were closing them, and I ran (at a human pace) over to them.

"Hey!" I called out, "Could you fine gentlemen let me out before you close them gates?" I knew how front gate guards work, and threats don't work on them, but flattery and bribes work every time.

"And what would get in return?" asked one of the guards.

"Well," I said, looking innocent, "what would you like?"

"Do you have any money?" another asked.

"How much?" I asked him.

"How 'bout two gold pieces for each of us?"

There were five guards, but ten gold pieces is a lot of money for a farmer, and should be a fortune for a woman.

"Ok!" I answered them, and took out ten gold coins. I handed it to the shocked guard, who wasn't expecting me to be so rich.

"I didn't know you were this rich!" He said, "Another two each!"

"NO!" I said forcefully, "The agreement was ten!"

"Another ten or you don't pass" he said bluntly.

"Let me pass, or I'll decapitate you!" I threatened him. He laughed.  
"A girl…decapitating a guard? Ha! You make me laugh!"

I answered by taking out my (old) sword and hitting him with the flat side of it. He fell down unconscious. I took my money and dared the other guards to challenge me. They backed off and let me pass. I gave them their gold pieces as hush money and walked out of the city. They finished closing the gate. Once it was completely closed, I began to run.


	8. Chapter 7 Hvitr Garjzla

**Hvitr Garjzla **

I don't know how long had gone by before the Heart of Hearts told me to stop running, but Uru'bean was out of sight and I was in the desert so I thought it safe enough to stop. Not even second had gone by before my legs locked and I skidded to a stop, sending a ton of dust into the air. It was surprising how fast my body reacted to my thoughts; it would take a while to get used to it. I waited for the dust to set before having a look around. I was quite basically at the edge of the desert, where it began to merge with the surrounding grasslands. The terrain was flat, and I could see for miles, but there was nothing but starved grass, yellow from the lack of water. I couldn't sense any large animals in the area, but there were millions of ants and other insects under the ground, and with no danger in the area, I sat down on the ground and began to search my bag for food. I took out some of the berries that I had stored a couple of days ago while in the forest. They tasted good, they were not, however, very nutritious, but they would have to do until the next time I came by food.

As I was eating, I began to think of what I could do next. On one hand, I could go find the Varden and give them the dragon egg that I had found, but that would lead to questions, mind searches, and many other complications which would be highly annoying and revealing; which I didn't really want; or I could go into hiding, and never be seen again. I knew straight away that the second option wasn't really an option…physically, the run away solution was a lot easier, but morally, it would be impossible; I would feel too guilty. So I would go south to that Dwarf City in the mountains; Farther Door or something…

"Fathen Dur" a deep voice interrupted. It was the hearts of hearts, listening in on my thoughts; again.

"Thank You" I replied. So I would go to Fathen Dur, which is the headquarters of the Varden, and then give up the dragon egg to them and, hopefully, be gone.

"Excellent plan!" exclaimed the hearts of hearts, "except for one major flaw"  
"And what would that be?" I asked it, a little annoyed.

"Well," he said in a knowing tone, "the Varden have moved into Sudra."

"Great!" I told it, even more annoyed, "Do you have any other information for me?"  
"Well," He said, ignoring my tone. "The leader of the Varden, Ajihad, is dead, and their current leader is his daughter, Nasuada."

"Really?" I said, amazed that he knew all about this.

"Yes, really," he said, "Why do you have to ask such stupid questions?"

"Hey," I started, ignoring his previous question, "What's your name? Cause you seem to know mine, but I have no idea what to call you."

"I have many names, some of which are true, others which are false, but you may call me Hvitr Garjzla." That was interesting; 'Hvitr Garjzla' literally meant white light in the ancient language, seemed fitting, but Hvitr Garjzla was too long.

"Can I just call you Hvitr? (White)" I asked, "Hvitr Garjzla is too long; it's like calling someone by their full name, it'll get annoying."

"Everyone is called by their full name in the ancient language, that's how things are."

"Well, that's just silly; a big waste of time it is. I'm just going to call you Hvitr, Ok?"

"Fine," He sighed, "But not in public…in public, I _must_ be called by my full name. Understand?"

"Oh…." I said, speculating, " Need to sustain your reputation eh? Got it"

"That is not why!" he said defensively.

"Yeh, yeh, whatever," I said, not believing a word of it. He simply let the subject lie. I opened up my bag and took out the dragon's egg to examine it. Like the sword, it was almost too black too see. I tapped on it, and it sounded hollow. I rubbed my hand on it to see what it felt like. It felt smooth as silk, but as hard as stone. It was really heavy too, as heavy as gold. To tell the truth, it was like nothing I had ever encountered before, and I would have never guessed what it was if I had simply found it lying around. I lay down next to my precious cargo and fell asleep. I was really tired and Hvitr would wake me if any trouble came. Tomorrow, I would be setting off for Sudra, and many twist and turns awaited, but until then, I would sleep.


	9. Chapter 8 Change of Plans

**Change of Plans**

It was not the sun that woke me; or Hvitr for that matter, but a very loud, sharp cracking sound that seemed to echo throughout the semi desert in which I was in. I woke up with a jolt, sitting up as if waking from a nightmare. I looked around for the source of the sound, but all there was, was my bag and the dragon egg. I threw out my senses and searched the near by area, but there was nothing that could have made such a sound, so I sent my mind even further. In desperation for an answer, I send my mind out to a three kilometer radius, in which there was nothing I could determine that could have made such a noise. Another loud cracking sound rose through the air, and I my attention was bought closer then I would have thought possible; right next to me. I picked up the dragon egg and found the answer. There was a clear distinct crack, running from one side of the egg to another and another crack just like it on the other side. Another crack appeared accompanied with a loud sound and many vibrations from the egg. It was so sudden it made me jump, and I threw the dragon egg into the air. It landed about ten meters away; I ran to it and sat down next to it. I knew what was happening, but I didn't want it to. The egg was hatching, hatching for its rider, and the only being within a three kilometer that was eligible to become a rider was me; I was about to become a rider. Another crack appeared, along with another loud sound and lots of movement from the egg. It was then that a random though occurred, like a person watching the birth of a child, I wandered it was going to be a boy or a girl. Out of all the people present at the birth of a child, the only one who ever wanders what its gender will be is the father. The mother is in far too much pain to care, and the midwife has simply gone through so many births that she just doesn't care that much anymore; her only concern is the mother. Another crack snapped me back to the real world, and I concentrated only on the egg from then on. There were several more cracks, with a little less time in between each one. After five minutes, there had been about another six cracks, but nothing else. I had no idea what was taking the dragon so long; I mean, normally, a dragon would hatch within the first two or three minutes; well, so I had read anyway. Another crack appeared, and another, and another, until cracks were just constantly appearing. All of a sudden it stopped. Silence. I held my breath. One minute went by. Two minutes. Four minutes and finally, it happened. It all happened with one piece, a circle and about 2 cm in diameter. The piece flew into the air, about five meters high, and I was able to breathe again. Then, the egg slowly folded out like a flower opening; the petals folding out, all the different colours and textures revealing them selves for the first time. A white light came from the center of the egg; strong enough so that you couldn't see the source, but not so strong that you couldn't look at it. As the egg opened up, the light slowly faded so that by the time the egg had completely opened up, there was a little black dragon standing in the middle. I sat there, in a state of shock, unable to do anything but sit there with my mouth hanging open. It took me about ten minutes to recover, and once I had, I realized that the dragon was smug.

_What on earth are you so happy about? _ I asked it.

_I have been planning that for ages, and it worked a treat! Just look at you! You can't believe your eyes!_

_You've been planning that?_

_Yeh, you have no idea how boring it is waiting for something. I had to wait one hundred and fifteen years! First, I had to wait for you to be born, and then you decided to wait fourteen years before showing up. What took you so long?_

_Well, first of all, I had no idea it was a dragon calling me! And secondly, no parents in their right mind would ever let their only child go on a suicide mission to Uru'baen on a hunch that there might be something waiting for them!_

_Good point. So how come you're here then? If your parents wouldn't let you go? _I didn't answer, but he got the drift of it from my mind.

_Oh, I'm sorry, if it's any help, my parents are dead too, Galbatorix killed them. _

_Well at least we have that in common. _

"You have that in common with many people" Hvitr butted in.

_Yeh, well, anyway, nice to meet you dragon. _I told it

_Likewise human. _

_That was quite a show you put on there. Do all dragons do that?_

_Nope, _he answered, _only the smart ones. _

_Or the ones with way too much time on their hands. _He growled at me, and I laughed at him. Well, at least he has a sense of humor.

_Are we going some where, _he asked,_ or are we just going to sit here talking all day?_

_Well, your appearance changes a lot of things, _I told him,_ I am going to have to make some changes to my plans. _And that was true. I could not go to Varden, because with my black dragon, not only would they take me for Galbatorix, but they would be extremely annoying and dependant on me. So if I could not go to Sudra, I needed to find a pit stop. Some place where I could contact the Varden, and somewhere where occupied by the Varden's allies. So I began to think of the Varden's allies. There were the dwarves for starters, but they were not too kind to dragon riders, considering that their race was excluded from the treaty, so all that was left were the elves. That was a much better plan. I would be tested of course, but I prefer that to be done by an elf, who would swear to tell no-one of my secrets (not that I had many), then some dwarf. So I would go north, to Du Weldenvarden, and ask for safe passage to Ellesmera. Seemed like a better plan, since the elves tend to be smarter then humans, and I could talk to them in the ancient language so that they know I am not lying. So there, my plan was made.

_To Du Weldenvarden it is_ said the little dragon. _ Let's go, quick_.

_Why are you so agitated? _I told him, _Calm down, and don't be so impatient. Your only ten minutes old! _

_Yeh well, I've been waiting a long time to get out of that castle. _

_Ok, I can understand that, but we have a problem. _

_What's that?_ He asked.

_Well, _I answered, _you can't fly yet, or run fast enough to keep up with me, and I can't carry you because I a going to need my arms, so how is this going to work?_

He answered by jumping onto my shoulder and placing himself around the back of my neck like a scarf. As he did so, a wave of magic surged into my body and centered itself in the palm of my left hand. A glowing spiral appeared and I recognized it from one the pictures in my book, it was the mark of the riders. The glowing stopped after a couple of minutes, and I was left with a spiral scar on my hand. I was now a full rider, and I had the scar and the dragon to prove it. I put on my back pack and started to run, with the rising sun on my right.


	10. Chapter 9 Feeling and Naming

**Feeling and Naming**

This was proving to be one strange week. It had started out OK enough, but then, with my parent's death it had all turned upside down. I had run from Galbatorix, run from his men, and from my whole life. Then I had, perhaps foolishly, followed some weird instinct to the great castle of the king himself, and went on a suicide mission to find out what on earth was calling me, only to find myself with enhanced skills, a new sword, a dragon, an ancient dragon and I really had no idea what to think about it all. But, in any case, it was one almighty adventure, with heaps of action, and heaps of firsts, and it was proving to be some fun.

I had never run in the desert before, nor run with a dragon on my shoulder either. Mind you, I couldn't help but enjoy his presence. He had never moved so fast in his life before and was having a ball, and through the whole connected mind thing, I couldn't help but enjoy it also.

_I love how fast we can go Mer_. The dragon told me.

I faltered. It was strange; Mer was the nickname my parent had used. No one even knew about it, and it was strange that the dragon chose to use it. The name bought back painful memories, but I didn't mind my dragon using it, hopefully it would help with getting over my parents.

I have realized that I haven't talked much about my parent's death in this. I mean most people pour everything into this kind of text, but I've always been the secretive type. I guess the main reason that I don't talk about my parent's death is not because it hurts, but because, strangely, it doesn't.

It's just so weird. I know I should be sad and all, but for some reason I'm not. Whenever the subject comes up (not that it happens much anyway), I don't break down like most people expect me to, or become sad, I just…die inside. I don't feel anything. At all. I go into this kind of limbo where I feel nothing and nothing effects me in any way. All emotion leaves my body, and I am just left with this weird sense of perception. It's as if you're not in the situation, but looking at it from outside, with a seat at the front. I think this is probably worse then breaking down, because at least you're feeling _something_.

When you feel nothing, your world goes boring. You don't care about anything anymore, life becomes meaningless, you don't care whether you live or die; it's all the same all of a sudden. For most, they keep on going for the people they know, but I had no one, and I just kept on living because there was nothing else to do. I know it's a weird thing to do, but there was nothing for me. I just wanted to find out what that annoying sensation in my head was, and then leave. That's all changed now. The dragon and I had an instant connection; we cared for each other at once, the same way a father unconditionally loves his child the moment they come out of their mother's belly. I cared for him, and it was this that threw me out of my limbo. After going through this, I have realized that love is the only thing that anchors you to this dreadful earth. It's what makes you want to stay, and survive. Once it's gone, the line has been cut, and you fall into limbo, where you do nothing, except exist and wait to die. I was lucky, another rope was thrown my way; I became a rider. I now had a responsibility to the earth and its people, and, I cared for another being again.

But now I was no longer in limbo, all emotions came back, including pain. For the first time since my parent's death, I was feeling something. It hurt, not just emotionally, but physically too. But I accepted it, actually, I embraced it. I had not felt anything for so long that even sorrow became my best friend, and then, I felt happy too. I was finally feeling something, and for that, I was so happy! Almost nothing can compare to that, and then the dragon snapped me out of my sad/happy trance, bringing me back down to earth.

_When are you going to name me?_ The newly born dragon asked

_Hey! I was having a very deep, life changing moment there, and u completely ruined it!_

_Well, _He continued, not caring at all, _I would like a name, cause being called 'the newly born dragon is gonna get really old, really fast. _

_Yeh, yeh, whatever. I would love to give you a name, the only problem is, I have no idea what to call you. _

_Well, what does your gut say? _He asked

_It says I'm hungry. _I answered

_Ha ha, very funny_

_No, I actually am hungry_

It was about noon, and I had completely forgotten to eat breakfast, with the dragon hatching and all. The little dragon jumped off my neck as I stopped and began to hunt for some food.

_That's not what I meant, _he said

_I know, _I told him as I took some old bread out of my bag,_ do you want a name in English, or in the Ancient Language?_

He stopped looking around and stared me straight in the eye as he though about it.

_I don't like names from the ancient language, they're far too long._

_Ok, so a name in English, you're male, and we need something symbolic…lets see…your black, so we could incorporate that…lets see…a black gemstone? _

_I guess, but what are gemstones are there?_ He asked as he pounced at a desert rat.

_Well…there's onyx, tourmaline…_

_Tourmaline isn't always black…_He said, as he gobbled it up.

_How about Donovan? _Interrupted Hvitr, _it means dark warrior. _

_No, _I answered, _don't like it that much…What else is there?_

_I got it! _I said, _Ragnar! It's a name that will be hard to live up to, but none the less…_

_What does it mean? _Asked the dragon

_It means wise warrior _I answered him as I took a bite of the bread, which was now stale, _and I like it._

_Ragnar, _said the newly named dragon, _I like it. Sounds good, has a nice ring to it, and a fierce meaning. What do you think Hvitr?_

_I think it will suit you well in the future, _was all he said on the matter.

When I had finished eating, I grabbed my gear and Rangar jumped back up onto my shoulders where he had been earlier. With his belly full of desert rat, he fell asleep. When he was fully asleep, Hvitr began to talk to me.

_You two have a lot of weight on you shoulders, _He said, _two dragons have already emerged from the eggs, one on each side. Who ever gets you will have a big advantage over the other. With Galbatorix now weak as he is, there is a good chance the Varden can win, but only if you are with them. Also, both sides will be fighting to get your allegiance, and it will be a race to who ever makes you say an oath first. Also, your plan of running away will not work, because both sides will fight to the death to find you and get to you, so you can leave that plan behind. I might add that you are in a lot more danger then Eragon and Safira, because Safira is the only female left so they will not kill her, but first chance they get, the opposition will kill you, so be very careful to whom you pledge allegiance to, and when you reveal yourself to the enemy. The only rider I want to see fall in this war is Galbatorix, so good luck, you'll need it. _

I kept silent, registering all the information that was being fed to me. He was right, both sides would fight to the death for me, and once I chose, the other side would fight to the death to kill me…I really did have to be careful, but I had a plan that would hopefully see me through till the end of the war.


End file.
